News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 9 May (BelTA) – Today Belarusians celebrate Victory Day. It is a sacred holiday, a tribute of remembrance, deep respect and gratitude to the Soviet soldiers, homefront workers, and underground resistance fighters, to all those, who made the victory possible.

On 9 May 1945 the Soviet people won the Great Patriotic War that had lasted for 1,418 days and nights and determined not only the fate of the USSR but the future of the world civilization.

Belarus was the first USSR republic to face the massive attack by the Nazi. Belarus lost more than half of the national wealth during the war. The Brest Fortress repelled the Nazi hordes since the very first days. The city of Mogilev survived a siege for an entire month.

During the occupation the enemy destroyed 209 cities and towns, about 9,200 villages, over 100,000 enterprises, thousands of scientific and medical institutions as well as schools. The victory cost the lives of every third Belarusian.

The sorrowful statistics still saddens the hearts of those, who sacrificed their youth and hopes in the name of the victory, and those, who know about the war only from stories and textbooks. The history of the tragedy and the final victory is an eternal source of sorrow and pain, of pride and glory of the Belarusian nation. Memory about the dreadful war and the great victory cannot fade away: it is part of the history of Belarus, of every Belarusian family.

The Great Patriotic War waged by the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and its allies has a special place in the world history. It was not just another armed conflict between countries. It was an entire age filled with the joy of victories, pain of losses, great suffering as well as heroism and courage of Soviet people, who defended the independence of their country and saved the world from Nazism.

World War Two events may now seem like a distant past but the deeds of those, who fell on the field of battle, the sorrowful memory about millions of innocent victims, and the tragedy of occupation are still remembered by the elder generation as well as their children and grandchildren. The past cannot be forgotten particularly nowadays when relations between nations are strained and armed conflicts start in various parts of the globe.

Thanks to efforts of the government World War Two events and lessons are closely studied in Belarus. The efforts were particularly intensive in 2014 when the country celebrated the 70^th anniversary of its liberation from the Nazi invaders. A new building of the Belarusian State Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War was opened back then. During the opening ceremony Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that Belarus has always been against attempts to distort the truth about the war and was the first country to create a museum of the Great Patriotic War.